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(A) City authorized to sell. The city is hereby authorized to sell water to areas outside the corporate limits.
('72 Code, § 36-5)
(B) Connection charges. Service outside the corporate limits of the city shall be surcharged 25% above the then existing rates in accordance with F.S. § 180.191(1)(a).
(C) Rates. Service outside the corporate limits of the city shall be surcharged 25% above the then existing rates in accordance with F.S. § 180.191(1)(a).
('72 Code, § 36-7)
(Ord. 65-151, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-89-49, passed 8-9-89; Am. Ord. O-90-33, passed 9-5-90; Am. Ord. O-90-51, passed 11-7-90; Am. Ord. O-91-42, passed 7-17-91)
The city is hereby authorized to sell water in bulk to other utility companies for resale in accordance with a price schedule to be determined by the city at the time such sale is initiated. An adjustment of the price schedule must be made annually so as to be effective on October 1.
('72 Code, § 36-9) (Ord. 65-151, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-69-143, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-72-23, passed 2-16-72)
(B) A turn-off charge to be established by resolution of the City Commission shall be made in all instances where the city disconnects service to a customer, except where a customer's water is shut off for nonpayment of a delinquent account pursuant to § 51.142.
(C) If a new customer turns on his or her own service without applying for service pursuant to § 51.030, the act of turning on the service without properly applying for same shall be a violation of this Code, and the city shall (i) disconnect the service, without notice to the customer, immediately upon learning that the service has been turned on without an application for service, (ii) charge the customer a disconnection fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission, and (iii) assess the customer an administrative fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission plus the cost of any damage to city property.
(D) If a new or established customer turns on or off his or her own service at the curb stop without city assistance for any reason, the city shall assess the customer an administrative fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission plus the cost of any damage to city property.
(E) If a new or established Customer turns on his or her own service at the curb stop without City assistance because his or her service is disconnected for nonpayment of his or her bill, because his or her service is disconnected for failure to apply for service pursuant to § 51.030, or because the City discontinued service because of leaks or wasted water pursuant to § 51.039, the act of turning on the service without City assistance shall be a violation of this Chapter, and the City shall assess the Customer fees, charges plus an administrative fee as established by resolution of the City Commission. In addition, disconnection fees, service fees and costs of damages to City property shall be established by resolution of the City Commission and the fees will be established for the following:
(1) For the first offense, the Customer shall be assessed a disconnection fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission plus an administrative fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission, and the cost of any damage to City property. In addition, a broken lock fee for the cost of a broken or missing lock or strap if such device(s) were originally utilized to discontinue service shall be assessed and such fee shall be established by resolution of the City Commission.
(2) For each additional offense, the Customer will be assessed the cost of any damage to City property, a service fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission to cover the City's cost of disabling waterflow by means such as plugging or removing the meter or disconnecting service from the water main, and an additional service fee to be established by resolution of the City Commission to cover the cost of restoring service back to the Customer by means such as unplugging or re-installing the meter.
(3) Additionally, in the case of a Customer who has unlawfully restored his or her service where the City identified leaks and waste of water pursuant to § 51.039, the Customer shall be responsible for payment of the charges for all wasted water resulting from the unlawful connection.
(4) Until the fees and charges specified herein are paid, as well as any past due balances on the utility account, service shall not be restored to the Customer.
(F) In all cases where a customer has turned on or turned off their own service at the curb stop, the city will charge the customer the cost of any damage to the meter itself including replacing or repairing any damaged meter parts, including the curb stop, meter box, meter seal or coupling.
(G) Any customer or individual who unlawfully taps into the city's water supply system by installing a bypass or by any other means shall be subject to any penalty prescribed in § 51.999 herein, and a service charge to be established by resolution of the City Commission for removing the bypass or other tapping mechanism. Additionally, the city shall estimate usage and charges for the unmetered water unlawfully used and the customer or individual shall be responsible for payment of said billing.
(H) The city shall immediately disconnect any hose or other device found connected to an adjacent property owner's water supply or to any other water source that is supplying a customer whose water service has been disconnected due to nonpayment, leaks or wasteful use of water, and said customer shall be subject to any penalty prescribed in § 51.999 herein and shall be charged the cost of any damage to city property. Said adjacent property owner, if found to have facilitated the illegal hook up, shall additionally be subject to discontinuation of service for unlawfully supplying water and shall be responsible for payment of any damage to city property.
(Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; Am. Ord. O-2014-15, passed 7-16- 14; Am. Ord. O-2019-18, passed 9-18-19)
BILLING PROCEDURES
Payment of all bills and accounts of the city for water service shall be made to the Department of Public Utilities, or at any other approved city facility, or by utilizing any other payment method, electronic or otherwise, approved by the city.
(‘72 Code, § 36-36(a)) (Ord. 205, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; Am. Ord. O-2014-15, passed 7-16-14)
When billing errors are discovered with the exercise of due diligence. and the event of error was on the part of the City in the making of any charge or in the amount thereof. the City will make the appropriate correction for up to 12 months prior to the date the error was discovered.
('72 Code, §§ 36-37, 36-38, 36- 39) (Ord. 1328, passed - -; Repealed by Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; new § 51.141 added by Ord. O-2019-18, passed 9-18-19)
(A) Criteria for discontinuance of water service in the event of nonpayment.
(1) Any bill will be considered delinquent on the 21st day after the billing date shown on the bill. A penalty of 12% per year will be assessed on any delinquent portion of the bill; provided, however, that a delinquent bill on a tenant’s account will not be subject to this penalty once the final bill on the account is issued.
(2) Effective October 1, 2005, if the bill remains unpaid, the next month's regularly scheduled bill will notify the customer of said delinquency and the date that service will be discontinued, which will be 45 days from the original billing date. No further notice shall be given prior to discontinuance, except that an additional 24-hour courtesy notice shall be provided to commercial and hotel/motel establishments and to multifamily housing of ten units or more.
(3) The business day on which the payment is processed is the date of payment.
(‘72 Code, § 36-36(b), (c))
(B) Fees and charges related to discontinuance of service for nonpayment.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (E) and (F) of this section service will not be restored to the premises until all delinquent charges billed for utility services provided to the premises are paid, along with all applicable fees and charges to be established by resolution of the City Commission.
(2) Customers who illegally restore their water service after disconnection will be assessed charges and fines in accordance with § 51.130.
(C) The city’s Code Enforcement Division and the Broward County Health Department will be notified of any discontinuance of service for delinquent accounts when the service has been discontinued for 48 hours or more. (‘72 Code, § 36-44)
(D) Creation of lien for nonpayment.
(1) When water is furnished to the owner, occupant or occupants of premises, the charge for such water service shall be and constitutes a variable and accruable lien against the premises, and shall become effective and binding as such lien from the date upon which the account becomes due, unpaid and in arrears.
(2) Liens accrued as set out in this section shall remain liens superior in dignity to all other liens until paid.
(3) The remedy provided in this section shall be cumulative and shall not be construed to waive the right of the city to require payment of any bill in arrears before renewing water service to the premises in question.
(‘72 Code, § 36-46)
(E) Upon a customer's request to extend payment of a bill, the city may approve, subject to review of the customer's account history, an extended payment agreement not to exceed 12 months.
(1) No individual application may be made more than once in any 12-month period.
(2) Installment amounts due under the monthly payment plan are payable in full together with full amounts billed for current charges and usage, no later than the due date for the current charges.
(3) If a customer notifies the City that he or she is seeking a rate adjustment under § 51.039(C), the amount in dispute will be held in abeyance and the customer will be required to pay, for the period of high use not to exceed the maximum adjustment period allowed under § 51.039(C), the average of the amount billed over the prior six months. Said payment(s) shall be due by the normal payment date for each of the monthly billing periods in dispute, or by the next payment due date of record on the account if customer notification is received after the due date of a disputed month.
(4) The final amount due by the customer, as determined by the City, may be paid by way of a monthly payment plan in accordance with the provisions of this Section, or shall be due by the payment due date of the next monthly billing period upon being billed.
(5) No provision herein will abridge the City’s right in any way to require payment of any amounts past due, in whole or in part, based on the customer’s account history, including occurrences of late payments, service disconnection, returned checks and meter tampering. The City has the right to approve monthly a payment plan in an amount less than what is requested by a customer, and the right to deny a monthly payment plan arrangement, based on the account history of the customer.
(F) (1) Any other provision of this Chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the City shall not refuse services or discontinue services to the Owner of any rental unit or to a tenant or prospective tenant of such rental unit for nonpayment of service charges incurred by a former occupant of the rental unit; any such unpaid service charges incurred by a former occupant will not be the basis for any lien against the rental property under this section or legal action against the present tenant or Owner to recover such charges except to the extent that the present tenant or Owner has benefitted directly from the service provided to the former occupant. This subsection applies only if the former occupant of the rental unit contracted for such services with the City or if the City provided services with knowledge of the former occupant’s name and the period the occupant was provided the services.
(2) The provisions of this division may not be waived through any contractual arrangement between the city and a landlord whereby the landlord agrees to be responsible for a tenant’s or future tenant’s payment of service charges.
(3) Nothing in this division shall be construed to limit the city’s rights, if any, under F.S. § 159.17, as amended from time to time.
(G) Closure of tenant account due to non-payment. In the event that the City discontinues water services to a property due to a delinquent tenant water account and the discontinuance of water services has been for 60 days without full payment on the delinquent balance or receipt of an application for a new water account, the City shall automatically close the existing tenant account and open an account in the name of the Owner.
(Ord. 205, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-69-143, passed - -; Am. Ord. O-72-206, passed 12-6-72; Am. Ord. O-88-12, passed 3-2-88; Am. Ord. O-93-60, passed 11-3-93; Am. Ord. O-94-44, passed 9-21-94; Am. Ord. O-94-70, passed 12-21-94; Am. Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; Am. Ord. O-2010-14, passed 6-2-10; Am. Ord. O-2012-02, passed 2-1-12; Am. Ord. O-2014-15, passed 7-16- 14; Am. Ord. O-2019-18, passed 9-18-19)
(A) Time limitations; meter reading. No abatements or deductions on metered service charges shall be made or allowed, except for errors, in meter readings on which such charges are based, or inaccuracies in the registration of any meter or in the event of error on the part of the City in the making of any charge or in the amount thereof, and then only provided claim for such abatement or deduction is made in writing to the utility customer service office within 60 days after the date the error or discrepancy is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. In the event of a timely and valid claim, the City will make or allow the appropriate abatement or deduction for a maximum of 12 months prior to receipt of the claim in writing or the date the error was discovered, whichever is earlier. (‘72 Code, § 36-40)
(B) Accounts for other than water service. No abatements or deductions on any bill, account or charge rendered or made by the City will be made or allowed, unless and only when a claim for such abatements or deductions is made in writing to the utility customer service office within 60 days after the date the grounds for the claim are discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. In the event of a timely and valid claim, the City will make or allow the appropriate abatement or deduction for a maximum of 12 months prior to receipt of the claim in writing or the date the error was discovered, whichever is earlier. (‘72 Code, § 36-41)
(Ord. 205, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; Am. Ord. O-2010-14, passed 6-2- 10; Am. Ord. O-2019-18, passed 9-18-19)
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